MAP53: Monster Condo (PlayStation Doom)

MAP53: Monster Condo is the fifty-third level of the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn versions of Doom, and the twenty-third level of the Doom II episode. It is based on the original MAP27: Monster Condo, with modifications made to adapt the map to the consoles' limitations. The author of the original map is Sandy Petersen.

Completing this level takes the player to MAP54: Redemption Denied, which is exclusive to consoles. The Spirit World, The Living End and Icon of Sin levels do not appear in the console games.

Essentials
From the start, head north-east to a door leading to a library. When you approach the rocket in the corner of the room, the door will shut behind you and the bookcases will lower to reveal a much larger room with several enemies; avoid stepping into the brightly-lit areas in this room unless you want to fight more monsters. The area also contains two skull switches - press the east switch to open the bookcase and reveal another area containing a varying number of Hell knights guarding the yellow skull key. Take the yellow key (and the nearby invulnerability powerup) to lower the nearby wall and reveal more enemies. Step into this alcove to open the entrance door to the library, then press the skull switch on the south side of the bookcase you entered through to open another alcove (which is secret #2). Press the switch inside this alcove to open the bookcase so you can make your escape.

Once you get back through the library door, turn right to go to an area with a floating skull rock inside a brightly-lit sector. Approach the rock to lower two nearby walls with imps, then head past the walls before they rise again. Head west and go through the door at the end of the path, to see a wall with a left-pointing arrow in it. Turn left and follow the wall round until you reach a skull switch, then press it to lower the floor and reveal another door. Go through and open the yellow door on the right to enter a marble hall. Climb the stairs and take the blue skull key at the end of the hall, then shoot the demon-faced wall to the north to open it. Press the switch hidden behind this wall to re-open the yellow door so you can leave the hall.

Back through the yellow door, press the skull switch on the right to raise a staircase to a higher ledge. Open the demon-faced wall at the top and head straight forward, round a cross-shaped bookcase, to a large piped structure near a blue door. Open the blue door and press the switch behind it to lower the center of the piped structure, revealing Hell knights guarding the red skull key. Take the key and soulsphere, then look west to see a brightly-lit area with a skull pole nearby. Go through the door here to a wooden room with lots of gore, and press the skull switch on the left to lower the floor. Take another soulsphere and three backpacks here, then head west and open the red door at the end of the passage. Step into the lava pit behind the door to finish the level.

Other points of interest
From the start of the level, head round the wall to your right and step into the lit area, which will open an alcove to the west containing zombiemen. When you step into the lit area in front of this alcove (containing a chaingun) another alcove will open on your left with a revenant. Step into the area that the zombiemen came from to open the next wall and reveal shotgun guys. When you go into that area, yet another wall opens to reveal more shotgun guys (their alcove contains another chaingun in multiplayer).

When you start the level, you can see a rocket launcher at the top of a set of steps over a sludge pit. Taking the weapon opens a monster closet to the west containing spectres, along with numerous pickups including a light amplification visor, a backpack and invulnerability.

The library containing the yellow skull key holds several hidden areas.
 * Step into the lit area by the north wall to lower a bookcase to the south, containing enemies guarding a box of bullets and a stimpack.
 * Pressing the skull switch on this bookcase lowers a second bookcase to the right between two short green columns. This bookcase hides one or two Hell knights guarding a partial invisibility powerup.
 * Stepping into the lit area in the south-west corner will open a monster closet in the east wall, containing zombiemen on I am a Wimp (IAAW) and Not Too Rough (NTR) skill levels, joined by nightmare spectres on Hurt Me Plenty (HMP) and shotgun guys on Ultra Violence (UV). The closet also contains an armor pickup and other items.
 * The small area with the yellow key also has a plasma gun in the south-west corner.

After getting the blue skull key, there is a longer but possibly more rewarding way to get to the blue door. After getting the key, step into the red-lit square platform in the center of the hall to be teleported to a seemingly identical room. You will find a soulsphere in the spot that the blue skull key occupied in the previous hall. If the wall to the north is not open, shoot the demon-faced wall to open it and press the switch hidden behind it to open the south door out of the hall. Through this door, go straight ahead through the lava pit and open the wall at the end to enter a large hallway. Lower the silver lift and ride it up, taking the partial invisibility on the way. When the lift rises, take the ammunition and invulnerability powerup at the end of the passage then open the demon-faced wall. When you step through it, you will be teleported to a hidden area behind the structure next to the blue door.

In the north-eastern room full of gore, there is a chainsaw in the north-east corner, just below the ledge with the lost souls.

Secrets

 * 1) After entering the room with the large left-pointing arrow, turn left and follow the wall round. When you reach a section of wall with a light, press use on it to open an alcove containing two boxes of bullets, two boxes of shotgun shells, two boxes of rockets and two energy cell packs. (sector 181)
 * 2) After picking up the yellow skull key in the library, wait until the bookcase you entered from lowers. Press the switch on the south side of the bookcase to open a secret alcove behind you. (sector 55) The switch inside is the only way to re-open the bookcase, letting you out of the area.
 * 3) Just north of the library is a corridor leading east. Step into the lit area at the end of this corridor to open the wall in front of you, unleashing one or more revenants. The area inside counts as a secret and contains armor bonuses, a medikit and a box of shells. (sector 61)
 * 4) North of the corridor from secret #3 is another just like it. Step into the circle of light around the floating skull rock to lower the wall between them. In the second corridor, step into the light surrounding the evil eye decoration to open another monster closet that counts as a secret area. (sector 0) The closet contains a partial invisibility powerup and a light amplification visor.
 * 5) In the wooden room full of gore (near the blue door) you will find two skull switches. Press the east switch to lower a floor in the opposite corner, revealing a secret tunnel with several health bonuses. (sector 46) The teleporter at the end of this tunnel will put you on a ledge overlooking the gore room, which holds several pickups including a BFG9000.
 * 6) In the marble hall with the blue key, press the switch on the east wall. This will open the west wall and reveal an alcove with Hell knights. (sector 117) The alcove also contains a computer area map, a berserk pack and a soulsphere.
 * 7) From secret #6, step into the red-lit square platform in the center of the hall to be taken to a seemingly identical room. The western wall in this room will also be open, revealing more knights in an alcove containing a computer area map, a berserk pack and a soulsphere. (sector 171)

Bugs
Inherited from the PC version: There are two computer area maps in this level which makes it impossible to get 100% items, since the player can only pick up one map per level.

Room design

 * All switches in the level use a skull switch on metal wall texture.
 * The nukage pit in the starting area is changed to sludge.
 * Secret #1 no longer closes after 30 seconds (see Secrets). Instead, the secret starts off closed and opens when the player presses a section of wall with a light on it, adjacent to the western wall of the room.
 * The wall cavity in secret #1 containing a red torch is removed.
 * Many of the decorations in the north-eastern room are replaced with meat hooks.
 * The teleporter pad at the end of secret #5 is not flagged as a separate secret (it was unreachable on PC, making it ordinarily impossible to get 100% secrets.)
 * The exit sector uses a lava floor instead of sky.

Monster placement

 * Arachnotrons are replaced with revenants.
 * Chaingunners are replaced with shotgun guys.
 * Pain elementals are replaced with four lost souls each on UV, or three each on IAAW/NTR/HMP.
 * Arch-viles were removed without being directly replaced.
 * Multiple changes were made in the library room containing the yellow skull key.
 * The demons found in the eastern alcove on UV and HMP are replaced with nightmare spectres. The zombiemen that should be in between those spectres are absent.
 * The revenant on top of the bookcase between the short green pillars is replaced with a Hell knight.
 * Two knights appear in the alcove south of the skull key on UV and HMP rather than one.
 * Multiple changes were made in the room containing the blue skull key, and the identical room on the west side of the level.
 * The mancubi in these rooms are replaced with four knights in each room on UV and HMP, and two knights in each room on IAAW/NTR.
 * Two revenants can be found in each room on UV rather than three.
 * The number of revenants on the ledges surrounding the platform with the red skull key was reduced.
 * On UV, there are two revenants each on the south-west and north-east sides, and one revenant each on the south-east and north-west sides. On HMP there is one revenant on each ledge, and on IAAW/NTR there are no revenants at all on the south-east and north-west ledges.
 * In the PC version of the level, each ledge has three revenants on UV/NM, two on HMP, and one on ITYTD/HNTR.
 * The red skull key is protected by five knights on UV and three on HMP; in the PC version of the level, the key is protected by eight knights and one baron of Hell on UV/NM, and four knights and one baron on HMP. Both versions have two knights protecting the key on the easiest skill levels.

Music
The map uses the following music tracks:

Player spawns
This level contains eight spawn points:
 * 1) facing south-west. (thing 420)
 * 2) facing west. (thing 421)
 * 3) facing west. (thing 422)
 * 4) facing north-east. (thing 423)
 * 5) facing west. (thing 424)
 * 6) facing west. (thing 425)
 * 7) facing west. (thing 426)
 * 8) facing south. (thing 427)

Things
This level contains the following numbers of things per skill level: